Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a fictional character, a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston and one of the three characters to be continuously published by DC Comics since the company's inception in 1944. Marston's wife Elizabeth Holloway Marston, and Olive Byrne, who lived with the couple in a polyamorous relationship, served as exemplars for the character and greatly influenced her creation. Wonder Woman first appeared in All Star Comics #8, published in December 1941. She is a founding member of the Justice League of America. In addition to comic books, the character has been in the media such as the famous 1975 to 1979 television adaptation starring Lynda Carter, as well as in animation like the Super Friends and Justice League (Animated Series), including the recent Justice League: The New Frontier animated movie and a forthcoming animated feature due out soon. Princess Diana is a member of a fictional tribe of Amazons, based on the Amazons of Greek mythology. Her name is reflective of the mythological character, Diana or Artemis. Her mother is Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. When Diana leaves the Amazons to travel to the world outside, she is known as both Wonder Woman and Princess Diana. As Wonder Woman, she was awarded several gifts by the Olympian gods, including the Lasso of Truth created from the Golden Girdle of Gaea and indestructible bracelets formed from the shield Aegis of Athena. For several years she was described in the splash page of each story, as "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, swifter than Hermes, and stronger than Hercules." History Main article: Fictional history of Wonder Woman Introduced in All Star Comics #8 in December 1941, Wonder Woman has endured multiple interpretations and adaptations since her inception. The details of her abilites, relationships and origin have changed and evolved over time. Intitially, Wonder Woman is an Amazon champion, armed with bulletproof bracelets, magic lasso, and Amazonian training, who wins the right to return Steve Trevor to "Man's World" and fight the evil of the Nazis. While Wonder Woman fights both Nazis and crime, her appearances had a noted sexual subtext, leading to debates over whether it provided an outlet for Dr. Marston's sexual fantasies or whether it was meant to appeal or influence, the developing sexuality of young readers. During this period Wonder Woman joined the Justice Society of America as the first female member; albeit as the group's secretary, despite being one of the most powerful members. During the Silver Age, Wonder Woman's origin was revamped, along with other characters during the era. The new origin story, increased the characters Hellenistic roots, receiving the blessing of each deity in her crib, Diana is destined to become "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, stronger than Hercules, and swifter than Mercury". At the end of the 1960s, under the guidance of Mike Sekowsky, Wonder Woman surrenders her powers to remain in "Man's World" rather than accompany her fellow Amazons to another dimension. A mod boutique owner, the powerless Diana Prince acquires a Chinese mentor named I Ching. Under I Ching's guidance, Diana learns martial arts and weapons skills, and engages in adventures that encompassed a variety of genres, from espionage to mythology. The character would later return to her super-powered roots and the World War II-era, (due to the popularity of the Wonder Woman TV series), in Justice League of America and the eponymous title, respectively. Following Crisis on Infinite Earths, Pérez and Potter wrote Wonder Woman as a feminist character, a princess and emissary from Themyscira to Patriarch's world. The four part "Sacrifice" storyline ended with Diana breaking the longstanding do-not-kill code. Before Crisis on Infinite Earths Originally, Wonder Woman was able to will a tremendous amount of brain energy into her muscles and limbs by Amazon training which endowed her with extraordinary strength and agility. The TV series show took up this notion; "... we are able to develop our minds and physical skills ..." Nazi Wonder Woman" 1976; and in the first episode of Super Friends 1973 Diana states to Aquaman "... the only thing that can surpass super strength is the power of the brain". In early Wonder Woman stories, Amazon training involves strengthening this ability using pure mental energy. Her powers would be removed in accordance with Aphrodite's Law if she allowed herself to be bound or chained by a male. With the inclusion of Wonder Girl and Wonder Tot in Diana's backstory, writers provided new explanations of her powers; the character became capable of feats which her sister Amazons could not equal. Wonder Woman Volume One #105, reveals that Diana was formed from clay by the Queen of the Amazons and was imbued with the attributes of the Greek gods by Athena - "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, swifter than Hermes, and stronger than Hercules." Although Wonder Woman’s mythos was returned to its original interpretation between 1966 and 1967, new abilities were added: super breath (to blow jet streams or transform water into snow); ventriloquism; imperviousness to extremes of heat and cold; ride the air currents as if flying; mental telepathy (even to project images); microscopic vision; the ability to vibrate into another dimension, and others which are listed in the Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes, Volume Two (1976). Depending on the writer, Diana's invulnerability and power varied greatly with the story needs. After Crisis on Infinite Earths Diana possesses a host of superhuman powers granted to her by the gods and goddesses of Olympus, gifts which have been stated to be equal to their own abilities. Primary among these are superhuman strength and stamina, which she draws from a mystical link to the Earth itself granted by Demeter. Diana is one of the strongest and most powerful superheroes in the DC Universe. Her stamina affords her an incredible degree of resistance to blunt force trauma. However, Diana's skin is not invulnerable and can be pierced by sharp projectiles. Diana has heightened resistance to magical attacks and manipulation. She is experienced in battling foes who use sorcery as a weapon. She heals at an accelerated rate due to her superhuman metabolism. She is a master of armed and unarmed combat, proficient with nearly every weapon of her culture, especially the bow and the javelin. She has at times engaged in battle with beings such as Superman, Darkseid, or the Gods of Olympus and held her own against them. She has enhanced senses, as well as being able to communicate with all forms of animals. The God Hermes gifted Diana with the powers of super-human speed and unassisted flight. She possesses the "sight of Athena", or the gift of increased insight, allowing her to sense others' emotions, and is now fully immune to mind control. Diana possesses great wisdom and intelligence, giving her heightened proficiency with languages, being able to speak her native Themysciran, Ancient and Modern Greek, English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese (she expressed "difficulty" with the tones of Cantonese during an interview with Lois Lane), Russian, and Hindi. Wonder Woman is an accomplished strategist and tactician, leader, and diplomat. She has been shown to astrally project herself into various lands of myth. In some cases, she has shown the ability to place individuals into a state of sleep while under the power of her golden lasso. Queen Hippolyta used this technique on Diana herself during the Our Worlds at War event. Blackest Night She was converted to a Black Lantern at first by Nekron. However, her love servered her connection with Black Lantern Power Ring and became a Star Sapphire. Odyssey Starting with the renumbering of the Wonder Woman series, picking up from Volume 1 with the last chapter of issue #600 Diana's entire past was mysterious re-written in the Odyssey story arc. In this altered world Themyscira was destroyed and Hippolyta killed with the surviving Amazons relocating elsewhere taking young Diana with them. Diana grew up with no knowledge of what happened to her mother or her origin. Through meeting an Oracle, Diana discovers Themyscira was attacked and the Amazons slaughtered. She asks the oracle to show her how her mother died, and it was seen that Hippolyta has sacrificed herself and killed herself in the fire as to not reveal the whereabouts of her daughter. Diana helps to relocate other surviving Amazons after another attack is plotted against them, for the purpose of getting Diana out in the open. Diana's odyssey brings her in conflict with The Morrigan, two of a trinity of war goddesses related to the destruction of Themyscira, Annan, Bellona. The Diana in this continuity is the target of Maxwell Lord in Justice League Generation Lost who discovers no one has ever heard of her, to his bewilderment. Superman has recently met this version of Diana, but feels as if he knows her already, or at least some version of her. The Morrigan sent a series of warriors and monsters after Diana in order to try and shape her to become more like them so she could become more like them and replace a fallen member of their trinity, Enyo, and make the Morrigan whole again. Where the story stars a conventional force lead by the same immortal who killed Hippolyta and now held the golden lasso, attacks a hidden Amazon temple. Diana's aid is enough to allow the Amazon's to retreat and their leader is slain by her, avenging Hippolyta and returning the lasso to it's rightful hands, and with it Diana's own power increases and she gains the ability to fly. The Morrigan's ruthless attacks do not end there, and even Diana's mentor Philippus fell when the Morrigan sent a minor god, a centaur Huntsman, after Diana, as well as a minotaur who had once been an innocent and made to fight, to drive her further into anger and hatred. The Morrigan then took three fallen Amazons and imbued them with the spirits of Artemis, Giganta, and Cheetah and turned them against the enclave of Amazons that sheltered Diana. Against the might of the three warriors they couldn't stand and all were slaughter, and Diana herself was badly injured, though escaped death thanks to the unlikely aid of Doctor Psycho, who's powers allowed him to realize the timeline had been altered. Using his psychic abilities, Psycho showed visions of alternate timelines of Diana's life. He explained that she could become Wonder Woman, but it would have to be something she chose to be, and said he'd rather be part of her life, even as a villain, than the current state of the world. Outside the visions, wounded, Diana was taken to a hospital where she quickly recovered. There she met an elderly patient at the hospital, one of the fates, Clotho, who explained she had giving Diana a 'backup' fate, so that when hers was severed, she would survive and be able to fight back against the forces who had done so, and that was Diana now. The fate then gave Diana a cloth she had spun, a blue and white starfield similar to her pre-Odyssey outfit, which Diana donned as a cap as Artemis, Giganta, and Cheetah returned. Finding her strength had increased once more, Diana easily defeated the three empowered Amazons, and convinced them to surrender and join her to avenge all of their comrades rather than follow the Morrigan's way and die. When the quartet attack, though, things go badly, as a sword stabs Diana shortly after she opens a door, transfixing her in place, and the other three die to the Morrigan, though in turn a second Morrigan, Bellona, dies to the treachery of their own warrior Ajax (New Earth), freed by Psycho, leaving only the strongest, their leader Annan. Diana is shown a vision of what could happen if the Morrigan's plan for her succeeds, and she sees herself clad in green, wielding the Flashing Blade and it's green flames and lightning, at the head of an army of the dead, marching over the Earth with a cause of justice untempered by mercy, and slaying even her friends the Justice League, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, and finally dispatching Superman himself after he tries to stop her. As the vision ends, Annan begins torturing Diana with her powerful magic to force her to give in and join the Morrigan, but while doing so she overlooks that her powers had not quite killed Artemis, and the badly burned Amazon regained her bow and shot the goddess in the neck, making Annan to lose the ability to release her magic, causing her to explode. In the rubble of their building, Diana grabs her lasso that leads her back to the door where the vision had come from, but before she passes through she is met by the Gods of Olympus, who tell her what happened; they are in exile out of fear of Nemesis, a goddess gone mad. Knowing that within her own realm, only the strongest heart could hope to stand against Nemesis, they task Diana to succeed where they cannot. Climbing through the doorway to Nemesis's realm, Diana fights through constructs in the shape of the dead, only to meet something unexpected holding the other end of her lasso; Herself, Wonder Woman, in her traditional uniform but also holding the Flashing Blade, who attacks. As they fight, the other Wonder Woman is clearly stronger, and chides Diana for talking instead of acting. Diana attempts to break through to her with words, but the other Wonder Woman decides to show her what is happened and cuts her, giving Diana a vision once again. Before the Odyssey began, the Morrigan were gathering an army to attack Themyscira, and Wonder Woman confronted the three goddesses, but it was a lure by the evil Nemesis, Goddess of Retribution. Wonder Woman fought the three Morrigan, causing the death of Envo when she was thrown into the path of a blow from Bellona meant for Diana, but as the other two pressed the attack out of anger, Nemesis herself came fourth and attacked the already worn Wonder Woman, impaling her with her sword- identical to the one the Diana in the vision and false Wonder Woman carries- and the truth of who the other Wonder Woman was came out, as Nemesis's sword bestowed upon Diana not death, but instead allowed Nemesis to steal her life, her form, and her power and take them on herself. Only thanks to the meddling of Clotho did a sliver of Diana escape, and the new timeline was forged. Back in the present, Nemesis explained that while her power was sufficient to fend off foes in her realm, she needed to scour humanity of it's valor and bring it's greatest warrior to heel, so that she could bring vengeance upon all who deserved it by ending humanity. With Wonder Woman's justice bent to vengeance and even her brought around to her way, nothing would be strong enough to stop the mad goddess's retribution. Diana rebuked that living among mortals didn't make her hate them, but Nemesis said it didn't matter and Diana'd become part of her now, impaling her with the sword once more. Using Clotho's strand of fate, however, now close enough to do so, Diana freely merges with her old self and power, casting the spirit of Nemesis out, and declaring herself Wonder Woman once more. Wonder Woman then declared Nemesis's plan a mad scheme, as the soul of an Amazon could never be bent to her merciless hate and she would never be her champion. Declaring she could die, Nemesis attacked once more in her own body, but this time Wonder Woman was strong enough to resist, not only now unwounded like when Nemesis attacked at the end of her battle with the Morrigan before, but with her new strength added to her old. Beating her down, Nemesis transformed by calling upon the strength of all murdered souls who cry out for vengeance, but Wonder Woman seizes her own sword and slays her with it. As Nemesis dies, Nemesis revealed Diana had passed a final test, and expressed joy that she would be freed in death, the cries of the murdered no longer roaring in her ears, while Diana would take her place to mete out punishment, and if Diana would not be her champion, she would take up her wrath and become the new Nemesis. As Nemesis died, armor reminiscent of the armor in her first vision covers Diana, and the truth of Nemesis's words sink is, as she feels the pain of the unjustly killed that had driven Nemesis mad over thousands of years and filled her with her terrible strength. However, also within Diana's heart still resided the memories of those who loved her and turned to her for protection. Wonder Woman declared she would take Nemesis' place and be the new wielder of the Flashing Blade, but would also be it's last wielder, as she broke it over her knee. With that, the spells and changes of fate on the rest of the world were broken, and Wonder Woman suddenly found herself on Themyscira, intact and whole, again, in the way of an archery contest between Artemis and Phillipus. She rushed forward and hugged Phillipus, then ran off to see her mother, leaving the two amazon warriors confused. Diana meets Hippolyta and the two talk, Hippolyta commenting on her new outfit, and Diana discusses the Odyssey she's been through. She also comments that she can feel there's another change coming, but Hippolyta reassures her that whatever change comes, Diana'll remain her daughter, they'll remain Amazons, and Diana'll always be Wonder Woman. Holding the words with her, Diana, Wonder Woman, then flies off into the sky. DCnU Following changes to the Timestream, Wonder Woman's origin was changed. While she had been taught since birth that she was a creation of clay, come to life by the power of her mother's need, it was not so. In reality, her mother had long ago had a tryst with Zeus, and their affair led to Diana's conception. The truth of her divinity was kept secret in order to protect Diana from the wrath of Hera, whose jealousy was notorious. When she discovered the truth, Wonder Woman cast off all other names, and chose never to return to Paradise Island. Powers and Abilities *'Superhuman Strength:' Granted by Demeter (Goddess of the Earth). Diana is literally as strong as the Earth because of her link to the planet granted to her by Demeter. She is said to be 'stronger than Hercules'. It is obvious her strength is magical in nature, given her height and weight. Wonder Woman is known to be one of the strongest beings in the DCU, generally shown to be nearly in the same class as Superman himself and to physically over-match other beings such as Supergirl without too much effort. She is considered to be the strongest superheroine in the world. After Superman, she is the strongest superhero in the DCU. She has godlike strength and also invulnerability due to her aegis-made shield magic bracelets. With her superhuman strength and superior fighting abilities, she has proven to be able to take on any other member of the Justice League in combat. In the events of Justice League: League of One, she was able to defeat even the other six main members through a combination of planning and power in order to save their lives and the world. She is strong enough to lift weights well into the megaton range and even pull 1/3 of the earth. *'Superhuman Durability:' Granted by Demeter (Goddess of the Earth). Diana, possesses a high resistance to damage and magical attacks. Her resistance to injury is not quite as great as any of the above mentioned metahumans. However, due to her vast threshold for pain and her amazon ability to heal at a superhuman rate, this easily makes up for the difference. She has withstood considerable bludgeoning damage in the form of hand to hand combat with metahuman opponents such as powerful as Superman and Captain Marvel. She has considerable resistance to human weaponries,though this is not absolute; she has a particular vulnerability to advanced bladed weapons, such as swords and spears, and projectiles, such as bullets and arrows. Bullets can cause minor to moderate injury, but not life threatening. And her ability to heal rapidly, makes up for this set back. She can easily survive under extreme pressures, cold, and heat. Wonder Woman has been able to traverse space, undergo submergence into lava, and withstand a direct explosion from a nuclear warhead unharmed. Born of the clay of Themyscira, and given life and divine powers by the gods themselves, Diana has heightened resistance to magical attacks. She is highly experienced in battling foes who use sorcery as a weapon. As a divine creation herself, she is far-less susceptible to manipulation by magic and mental attack than many of her fellow heroes. *'Flight:' Granted by Hermes (God of Messengers). Wonder Woman is capable of unassisted flight through an as yet unknown but probably magical means or through telekenisis. Her aerial maneuverability is not as developed as aerial combatants such as Hawkman or the Black Condor, but she is still a relatively capable aerial combatant as well. Wonderwoman is capable of flying at speeds of greater than escape velocity. She has been clocked at Mach 5 (hyper-sonic) traveling in sustained flight and can go much faster if need be. *'Superhuman Speed:' Granted by Hermes (God of Messengers). She is able to think, react and move at superhuman speeds. Her top speed is high hypersonic(It's lightspeed in some instances but it may not be consistent) and according to Flash, she can easily keep up with him but it should be noted that the Flash does not usually go at his nearly max speed which is lightspeed, unless the situation is severe and calls for it. *'Superhuman Reflexes:' Granted by Hermes (God of Messengers). Wonder Woman possesses reflex abilities similar to speedsters, such as Jesse Quick and Max Mercury, and has been noted as being faster than Superman's. She is able to keep up with Jesse Quick with ease, referencing her patron deity of speed and messenger of the gods, Hermes, as the source of her powers. Wonder Woman's reflexes are far beyond the limitations of the finest human athletes. She has been able to react to a barrage of gunfire from multiple opponents at once unharmed. *'Superhuman Agility:' Wonder Womans's agility is far beyond that of even an olympic level athlete, as is her balance and coordination. *'Superhuman Stamina:' Wonder Woman can last a great deal of time in any fight and with virtually anyone. She has held her own in combat with foes as powerful as a Doomsday clone. She doesn't tire out, as her body produces no lactic acids in her muscles. *'Enhanced Healing Factor:' Granted by Demeter (Goddess of Earth). Like the Earth, Diana is constantly renewing herself, allowing her to quickly heal mild to moderate injuries at an amazing rate. Her normal regenerative abilities allow her to recover from injury within seconds to minutes. She possesses an incredible immunity from poisons, toxins, as well as disease. In rare cases where she was gravely injured or where another has managed to severely poison her, Diana showed the ability to physically merge with the Earth, causing whatever injuries or poisons to be expelled from her body as she regains shape. *'Oneness With Fire:' Granted by Hestia (Goddess of the Hearth). Apparently making her a focus of truth. *'Empathy:' Granted by Athena. (Goddess of Wisdom) "The Sight of Athena" apparently grants her increased insight. (For example, Diana can often detects others' emotions, and is now so fully immune to Doctor Psycho's illusions that she usually is not even aware of what illusions he is attempting to project. Apparently most forms of mind control will not work on her either). She can also detect other people's emotions. Even other high-level telepaths would be unable to read her mind or attack her in such a manner. *''Animal Rapport:'' Granted by Artemis (Goddess of the Hunt). Ability to communicate with all forms of animals (including dinosaurs) and her presence alone can bring a raging beast to a calm standstill. *'Enhanced Senses:' Granted by Artemis (Goddess of the Hunt). Eyesight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. *''Superhuman Sight:'' She also possess the "Hunters Eye" which allows her to always hit her mark. She can see to far greater distances than any normal human. Wonder Woman was briefly blinded, then had her sight restored by Athena. Since then, she has had the sight of Athena. *'Dimensional Teleportation:' On occasion, Wonder Woman can literally leave the planet through meditaion. She did this to rescue Artemis when she was in hell, and has even conversed with the Greek Gods on occasion. *'Master Combatant:' Diana is the finest warrior ever born among the Amazons of Themyscira. She is a master of armed and unarmed combat, proficient with nearly every weapon ever made (especially the bow and the javelin) and the exotic martial arts styles of the Amazons. Batman once remarked that Wonder Woman is the best melee fighter in the world. *'Master Tactician and Strategist:' Diana is also an accomplished strategist and tactician, trained in the arts of leadership, persuasion and diplomacy, and possesses a great deal of courage as well. She is a gifted leader. *'Multi-lingual:' Diana has exhibited heightened proficiency with languages, being able to speak her native Themysciran, Ancient and Modern Greek, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Mandarin Chinese (she expressed "difficulty" with the tones of Cantonese during an interview with Lois Lane), Russian and Hindi. Plus, through precise muscle control, she can mimic other peoples voices for short conversations (telephone). It is more difficult, (though it can be done), for her to mimic a mans voice than another womans voice. *'Wisdom:' Granted by Athena (Goddess of Wisdom). Diana possesses great wisdom and intelligence, though the degree varies from author to author. She is among the smartest and wisest members of the Justice League of America, along with the Martian Manhunter and Batman. *'Aviation:' Expert pilot. Seen flying the Invisible Jet with ease. *'Expert Lasso Wielder:' Can use the Lasso of Truth as an offensive and defensive weapon. Equipment Former Equipment *Black Lantern Power Battery *Star Sapphire Power Battery *White Lantern Power Battery Weapons Diana has numerous powerful weapons at her disposal, but her signature weapons are her indestructible bracelets and the Lasso of Truth. The bracelets were formed from the remnants of Zeus's legendary Aegis shield, and Diana's superhuman reflexes and senses allow her to deflect or reflect projectiles and bullets, including automatic weapons fire, as well as energy blasts, including multi-vector attacks. The Lasso of Truth is absolutely unbreakable and has restrained beings as powerful as Superman, Captain Marvel, and the gods Ares and Hades. The Lasso burns with a magical aura called the Fires of Hestia, forcing anyone within the Lasso's confines to be truthful. The Fires can restore lost memories, dispel illusions, renew the wielder's body, protect those encircled by it from magical and nonmagical attacks, and even cure insanity. Wonder Woman's golden tiara has also doubled as a throwing weapon, used for long-distance attack or defense. Diana used the Sandals of Hermes to cross the dimensional impasse between Themyscira and the outside world, but they were passed on first to Artemis, and later to Wonder Girl. Diana also once wielded the Gauntlet of Atlas, which magnifies the physical strength and stamina of the wearer by a factor of ten. The Golden Age and Silver Age Wonder Woman used an invisible airplane that could be mentally controlled. It was variously described as being either a creation of Amazon technology or the legendary winged horse Pegasus transformed into an aircraft. Its appearance varied as well, originally having a propeller and later being drawn as a jet aircraft, resembling a fighter plane. The Post-Crisis Wonder Woman has at her disposal a small lightweight disc of alien (Lansinar) technology that, when triggered by her thoughts, transforms into a transparent version of whatever object or vehicle is appropriate for her needs. However, following the One Year Later continuity jump, Diana was given a new invisible plane, created by Wayne Industries. Diana occasionally uses additional weaponry in formal battle, such as ceremonial golden armor complete with golden wings, war-skirt and chest-plate, and a golden helmet in the shape of an Eagle's head. Her deadliest piece of battle-gear is a magically forged sword (again a gift from Hephaestus), so sharp that it can "carve the electrons off an atom". Former Weapons *Black Lantern Power Ring *Star Sapphire Power Ring *White Lantern Power Ring In Other Media Television 1975-77 TV Series See: Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter) ''Justice League'' and Justice League Unlimited See: Wonder Woman (Justice League) ''Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' *Wonder Woman makes a non-speaking cameo as a member of the Justice League in the episode "Sidekicks Assemble". She is only shown from behind and is not identified by name. At San Diego Comic-Con 2010's Batman: The Brave and the Bold panel, it was confirmed that Wonder Woman would appear in an upcoming episode of the show. Wonder Woman appears in the opening segment of the 2011 episode "Scorn of the Star Sapphire!" rescuing Steve Trevor from Baroness Paula Von Gunther. Her appearance is accompanied by an arrangement of the classic 1970s Wonder Woman theme song. She was voiced by Vicki Lewis, who also voiced Star Sapphire in the same episode. She subsequently appears in "Triumverate of Terror!", where she teams up with Batman and Superman to fight the combined threat of Cheetah, Lex Luthor and the Joker. 2011 Television Project See: Wonder Woman (NBC) *Reports surfaced in October 2010 that Warner Bros. Television was teaming with writer-producer David E. Kelley to pitch a new Wonder Woman television series to networks. The major networks all turned down the series, but NBC, the final network to initially pass on the project, announced that they had ordered a pilot on January 21, 2011. The plot is described as "a reinvention of the iconic D.C. comic in which Wonder Woman -- aka Diana Prince -- is a vigilante crime fighter in L.A. but also a successful corporate executive and a modern woman trying to balance all of the elements of her extraordinary life." On February 16, 2011, it was announced that Adrianne Palicki was selected to play the title role. ''Young Justice See: Wonder Woman (Young Justice) *Wonder Woman appears in the animated series Young Justice voiced by Maggie Q. At New York Comic Con 2010, it was confirmed that there are no longer any restrictions involving DC characters appearing in animation, thus making it possible for Wonder Woman to be used. Wonder Woman appears in the pilot episode, "Independence Day", where she and the rest of the Justice League arrive at Cadmus Labs following its destruction. She is shown having a conversation with Superman about the fate of the newly-discovered Superboy, though her words are not audible to the audience. Film Wonder Woman'' (2009) See: Wonder Woman (2009 Movie Character) Individual film In January 2001, producer Joel Silver approached Todd Alcott to write a Wonder Woman screenplay, with Silver Pictures backing the project. Early gossip linked actresses such as Mariah Carey, Sandra Bullock, and Catherine Zeta-Jones to the role of Wonder Woman. Leonard Goldberg, speaking in a May 2001 interview, named Sandra Bullock as a strong candidate for the project. Bullock claimed that she was approached for the role, while Lucy Lawless and Chyna both expressed interest. Lawless indicated that she would be more interested if Wonder Woman was portrayed as a "flawed hero." The screenplay then went through various drafts written by Alcott, Jon Cohen, Becky Johnston, and Philip Levens. By August 2003, Levens was replaced by screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis. In March 2005, Warner Bros. and Silver Pictures announced that Joss Whedon would write and direct the film adaptation of Wonder Woman. Whedon's salary was reported to be between $2 to $3 million. Since Whedon was directing Serenity at the time, and required time to research Wonder Woman's background, he did not begin the screenplay until late 2005. According to Joel Silver, the script would cover Wonder Woman's origin and include Steve Trevor: "Trevor crashes on the island and they go back to Man's World." Silver wanted to film Wonder Woman in Australia once the script was completed. While Whedon stated in May 2005 that he would not cast Wonder Woman until he finished the script, Charisma Carpenter and Morena Baccarin expressed interest in the role. In February 2007, Whedon departed from the project, citing script differences with the studio. Whedon reiterated: "I never had an actress picked out, or even a consistent sic front-runner. I didn't have time to waste on casting when I was so busy air-balling on the script." Whedon stated that with the Wonder Woman project left behind, he would focus on making his film Goners. "I would go back in a heartbeat if I believed that anybody believed in what I was doing. The lack of enthusiasm was overwhelming." A day before Whedon's departure from Wonder Woman, Warner Bros. Pictures and Silver Pictures purchased a spec script written by Matthew Jennison and Brent Strickland. Set during World War II, the script impressed executives at Silver Pictures. However, Silver has made clear that he purchased the script because he didn't want it floating around in the industry; although it has good ideas, he doesn't wish for the Wonder Woman film to be a period piece. By April 2008, Silver hired Jennison and Strickland to write a new (modern day) script that would not depict Wonder Woman's origin, but explore Paradise Island's history. Undeveloped Justice League film A Justice League film was slated for a 2009 release, before being put on indefinite hiatus in April 2008. It was based upon the DC Comics publication, the Justice League which has included a number of superheroes in the past including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, and Captain Marvel. An 29 October 2007 article quoted Joel Silver as stating that due to the impending release of Justice League, the Wonder Woman film will be placed on moratorium: 'They're going to make the Justice League movie, and we're kind of pausing on Wonder Woman now. Let them go ahead and do that picture first'. The Amazon superhero from the DC Comics series will be a major part of the upcoming JLA, and if that comes together, Wonder Woman will be a part of that story,' Silver said. 'And then we'll see where we go from there. But we struggled with it for a while. I hope that we can solve it and make it one day.' A number of actresses had reportedly been under consideration for the role of Wonder Woman in the Justice League film. Jessica Biel was approached for the role, but passed on it, while Missy Peregrym, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Teresa Palmer, Shannyn Sossamon, and Christina Milian expressed interest. It had been reported that Australian supermodel Megan Gale was cast as the heroine. In early January 2008, it was reported that production of the JLA film was delayed due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. When asked if the film would still affect the solo Wonder Woman movie in April 2008, Silver said it would not as the Justice League film had been shelved. See Also *Wonder Woman/Gallery Category: Characters Category:Justice League Members Category:Justice Society Members Category:Amazons Category:Black Lantern Corps Members Category:Female Furies Category:Former Star Sapphire Corps Members Category:White Lantern Corps Members